Priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 10-111671 filed in Japan on Apr. 22, 1998, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a component carrying device, and more particularly to a device for lining up components and carrying them intermittently.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional carrying or conveying systems include a carrying system which provides downward-sloping grooves for carrying and guiding the components and drops the components using potential energy, a system using compressed air or negative pressure to convey components by air pressure, and a system comprising an unbroken belt on the bottom face of the grooves for carrying components, the components being carried by intermittently driving this belt (for instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-48419). These are known systems for carrying small-scale components such as chip components.
In the drop system, static electricity or dirt on the components sometimes causes the components to snag midway, leading to a problem of poor reliability. Furthermore, in the compressed air system, although the structure of the system is simple, it is susceptible to fluctuations in air pressure, and also requires a pressure source with the consequent disadvantage of high cost. Moreover, in the belt drive system, reliability is comparatively high but the drive mechanism for intermittently driving the belt is complex, tending to have poor durability.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a component carrying device which has a simple constitution and can eliminate problems such as those mentioned above.
In order to achieve the above objects, a first aspect of the present invention comprises a component carrying device comprising a guide groove for lining up components into one line and guiding them; a carrying member, provided on the bottom face of this guide groove, and movable forward and backward along the direction of the groove; and driving means, for driving the above carrying member forward and backward, the speed when moving backward being higher than when moving forward; the speed of the carrying member when moving forward is a speed at which a predetermined sustained frictional force acts between the carrying member and the components, which are mounted on the top face of the carrying member; and the speed of the carrying member when moving backward is a speed at which the frictional force between the carrying member and the components, mounted on its top face, is substantially overcome.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be explained with reference to exemplary embodiment shown in the accompanying drawing and described below.